Mark on Recent Podcast

Author talks about book and recovery

Mark on International Broadcast

The World Needs to Know About Recovery

Mark on Recent Podcast

Go Humans Creator talks about being a CPRS

Go Humans!™ Produced Series: Ongoing Interviews and Stories

Go Humans Devotee Stories

These are condensed excerpts from the book, Radically Honest.

To honor confidentiality, the people in these stories are represented under

different names — but their journeys, struggles, and recoveries are real.

Their complete chapters appear in the book.

Dakota

“My past shaped me, but it doesn’t define the mother I’m becoming.”

Dakota grew up on a free-spirited commune where openness, alternative living, and spiritual practice coexisted with secrets, trauma, and early exposure to drugs and alcohol. After enduring sexual abuse and beginning to drink at a young age, her life spiraled into heavy drinking, ketamine use, and early emancipation. By 17, she was pregnant, alone, and fighting addiction. When she reached out to a peer for help, everything shifted. With medication-assisted treatment, trauma-informed support, and a deepening spiritual practice, Dakota found sobriety, gave birth to a healthy daughter, and slowly rebuilt her life. Her story is one of resilience, awakening, and the power of human connection to break generational cycles.

David

“I treated patients by day and hid my addiction by night. Recovery gave me back my life.”

David grew up gifted: top grades, star athlete, Ivy League scholar, neurosurgeon. But behind the success was an ADHD diagnosis that led to stimulant dependence, and later, a cascade of pills, alcohol, and high-risk behavior that followed him through college, medical school, and residency. His addiction escalated into a dangerous double life until a seizure forced him to face the truth. With physician-focused treatment, peer support, and honest recovery work, David rebuilt his life, his marriage, and his purpose. Today, he uses his experience to help other medical professionals seek help without shame.

Akil

“You can outrun defenders, pressure, and pain…but you can’t outrun addiction.”

Akil’s life looked like a success story in the making: honors student, multi-sport star, full scholarship, NIL deals, and thousands of followers cheering him on. But behind the highlight reel was a growing dependence on alcohol and Xanax that began as a way to cope with pressure, pain, and impossible expectations. After a failed drug test, public suspension, and escalating secrecy, Akil’s world unraveled — sports, academics, relationships, finances, and finally his sense of self. His addiction spiraled into homelessness, dangerous withdrawal, survival in the woods, and repeated relapses. Though he fought for recovery with courage and heart, his story remains unfinished — a reminder that addiction is a disease that doesn’t care about strength, talent, or promise. Akil’s journey shows why compassionate peer support matters, especially for those who look like they “should be fine.

Guiellermo

“I crossed jungles, borders, and death itself — but recovery was the hardest journey of all.”

Guillermo left Colombia at seventeen, risking his life through the deadly Darién Gap to give his family a future. Robbed, starving, and forced to carry a cartel drug pack across the border, he survived a journey many do not — only to return home defeated when U.S. authorities sent him back. Years later he tried again, made it to the Northeast, and worked tirelessly to rebuild his life. But alcohol and cocaine slowly took over, leading to an overdose that nearly killed him. That moment — and the warm-handoff peer who met him in the hospital — changed everything. Through detox, bilingual recovery meetings, medication-assisted treatment, and the kind of connection he’d never had before, Guillermo found stability, purpose, and hope. Today he works full-time, attends community college, sends money home, and shares his story so others can survive their own battles.

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PODCAST Mark Ehrenkranz on Addiction Recovery: How Peer Recovery Specialists Help Patients Heal